Land of mystic mountains!

Kodai Kanal has always been my favorite destination, ever since I visited it as a kid. The beautiful mountains, the lush green jungles, the placid lake, the lovely mist, and the beautiful waterfalls always had remained etched in my memory. I had a chance to visit Kodai a few years back with my friends. A log of that trip is here. But it seems, I never had enough of Kodai, and my craving to visit that place is still the same :D

Kodai has always been a part of my family favorites. And guess, Ritesh had got so bored of listening to the dinner-time-kodai-stories, that he decided to visit it and become a part of the memoirs recitation :D. So when his parents were coming to stay with us for few days, we planned for this much awaited trip to Kodai Kanal.


Ever since we got our new car, we have actually never travelled anywhere without it, so this trip also had to be by car :-). We started on the friday evening and reached Salem at night for a halt, as we don't drive in the night (reason being, there is absolutely nothing that you can see in the night...driving in day is so much more interesting). And next day early morning drive from Salem to Kodai was all the justification we needed for the night stay at Salem :-).

When we reached Kodai, the scene was right out of a fairy tale. It was mist & fog everywhere. And the small town was abuzz with activity. And the best was a view from the lawn of our hotel. We just went all gaga over it...and stayed up at the lawn taking pictures and breathing in the fresh air and purging our lungs of all the pollution and toxic gases. The climate in Kodai in June was just amazing. You see a beautiful sunrise and nice "dhoop" in the mornings, then by the time its afternoon, the clouds come down as if to give you a hug, the late afternoon, there is slight showers, and then it miraclously clears up and you see twinkling stars in the sky.

We spent three full days in Kodai, each day exploring an area around Kodai that is not so well known, so as to avoid a lot of crowd. And yes, every day was followed by an evening ...cycling around the lake. Its one of the best activity you can do. Its healthy and you can take lot of beautiful pcitures around the lake. The rest of the evening was well spent at cards and food at the Kodai Club. :-)

We just enjoyed every bit of our time spent in Kodai and now Ritesh also has a craving to visit Kodai again and again...so watch out for more travelogues coming! :-)



Facts
Bangalore to Kodai - 480 kms
Route: Bangalore – Hosur - Krishnagiri – Dharmapuri – Salem – Bhavani - Erode - Kangeyam - Dharmapuram - Palani - Kodai
Kodai - Palani - Dharmapuram - Kangeyam - Mechcheri - Dharmapuri - Krishnagiri - Hosur - Bangalore
Google Map
Places to stay: Villa Retreat - Official Site, My review on trip advisor
The Kodai Club - Official Site
Best time to visit: April to June & September to October
Places to see: The Kodai Lake, Pine Forest, 12 Mile circuit and view points along the way, Coakers walk, Berijam Lake, any drive coz its so beautiful to pass through mist-ful roads and we are still exploring better places! :-)

Suggestions
Try to avoid the weekend rush and go on a weekday.
Better have your own car, so as to move around easily.
There are a lot of hiking and trekking trails in and around Kodai. Get more information from the DFO, office.
I have come to know of a trekking trail from Kodai to Munnar, and it sounds amazing. Me and Ritesh are waiting for the calendar to change, so that we can do it the coming january! :-)
There is this site 360Inn, they have an interesting and off-beat lineage of organized tour. This too is on our list and will do it soon!

...of warm hugs, subtle kisses n family reunions

Last night me and Ritesh went to pick up a friend coming from Spain. We had to wait for around 1 and a half hours for them to come out.

And during this wait we witnessed so many families and friends reunite. It was a very exhilarating experience. The long waits...the searching eyes...then a glimpse of their loved ones...and then a sudden smile...the rush to meet them...the hugs...the kisses...the laughs...the questions...the compliments...the sound of shutter to capture the moment forever...the jumping around...wow!!!

That reminded me of the times when Ritesh came to Tokyo to meet me and when I cam back from Tokyo... :-)

TGDC - Top 100

Finally the cat is out of the bag. Check out the top 100 couples for TGDC.

zaheer bakshi & zainab bakshi
vishal & anushk
vamsi vanka & charukesi ramadurai
unny radhakrishnan & bindhu unny
tirthankar basu & mampa basu
sudhanshu jain & aastha jain
sowmya & guru
sivakumar & ansuya
shilpi aurora & varun mehra
shaishav singh & norah singh
sajjan devaiah & ambika kariappa
thomas anand & shilpy
rupak venugopal & deblina ghosh
roohshad garda & zinaida mascarenhas
ranganathan srinath & meenakshi srinath
radhika raj & bharath belliappa
pushkar sham kulkarni & mugdha kulkarni
prafful agrawal & tara agrawal
paramjeet singh & supreet dhiman
neil sequeira & yuliya glushchenko
moiz gabajiwala & zahabiya gabajiwala
mohsin khan & mainu kalita
maya & ramesh
leena nair & sairaam rai
kartik jain & vaishali jain
joseph radhik & namrata poddar
jomy jose & asha puthran
jignesh d shah & taru j shah
' jeevan joseph mathew' & 'neetu jeevan mathew'
'janice pearl d'souza & $andhan chowdhury
imtiaz ahmad khan & sonali gupta
hina rajpal & santosh santhanam
hemant kumar tiwari & mrinalini tiwari
gregory jude mascarenhas & ruby mascarenhas
garima nahar kale & sidhanshu kale
danish contractor & leela muthana
bopanna c p & joshine antony
bhakti thakare & harpreet grover
bala murali & cauvery thimmaiah
ateet jayaswal & supriya goswami
arvind & anita
arush vohra & sarika sehrawat vohra
aneesh bhasin & dipna daryanani
ananda kumar dendukuri & nischala valli
anamika singh & pawan saxena
alvito fernandez & marsha nesamani
' aayushi awasthi & anchal kumar srivastava
aarti dayal & harsh vardhan
aadil bandukwala & saniya bandukwala
swapnil zarekar & shilpi gupta zarekar
ajay jain & anubhuti rana
saurabh uttam & divya uttam
amit sharma & ankita bajaj
abhijit shukla & vashita
deepak shivlal jethwa & priti
deepa baruah & dhrubajyoti baruah
rajat gaur & shelly
vatsal d. jogani & khushboo v. jogani
sapna bhavnani & arijit datta
harish chawla & priyanka chopra
dr. praveen jacob & dr. swati mogra
mini jacob & jason jacob
manoj agarwal & ambika agarwal
varun anand sinha & riddhi anil parekh
supratik choudhury & anindita choudhury
arvind passey & sangita passey
anand majumdar & sheetal rai
dr. gaurav chhabra & elena kasnatscheewa
girish dariyav karnawat & purvi patel
ritesh shrivastava & kosha shah
sai karthik madabhushi & anvita varshney
navin gulia & deepa gulia
harsha koda & prabha koda
mandeep mahanta & bhavika sharma mahanta
harish kukreja & pavithra ghanashyam
anirban biswas & shifra menezes
vikram srinivasan & chitra vikram
mohamed raffi & poorvi daxini
priya fonseca moizuddin & hashim moizuddin
ram & rakhi
amith prabhu & mrunmaiy abroal
aditi mathur & anupam mathur
anjali jain & hemant aneja
amit singh & jasleen chopra
harish mohan & babija d
priya ramakrishnan & gaurav phanasgaonkar
narayan mallapur & radhika mallapur
bhanu vashishta & naysa ahuja
vineet malhotra & ranjeeta malhotra
kartik kesarker & nidhi singhvi
' santosh abraham & nidhi dev
sushant kumar & sweta
pooja ganeriwala & abhishek kadam
rajat malhotra & payal malhotra
deepak raghunath & aishwarya belliappa
b a pavan biddappa & bollamma machaiah
ashish & paavani
kapil bhati & dr. reenu bhati
rishi kapoor & poonam kapoor
prashant jain & swati jain

Nods!!!

I was in a training for the whole of last week (sigh...!). And me with my restlessness had to figure out new new activities to keep myself interested :D. One such activity I engaged myself into was to notice people's expression for different situations.

The expression that caught my attention this time was "Nodding" of different styles. Nodding is the most explicit expression to show you understood. Very trivial to notice so much, but at length, when you don't have anything else to do, they seemed quiet interesting.

The most common style of nodding is to nod up & down, which universally means a "yes". Another one is to nod from left to right or vice versa, which universally means a "no". But, I found it being used interchangeably with the first one to mean a "yes".

There exists another version of the left-to-right or right-to-left nod. This one is at a faster pace, which definitely implies a certain "no" (atleast from what I have seen till date).

And then there is this very very interesting, and most ambiguous nod: the pendulum nod, swinging the head in rotary motion resembling a dancing head. Can anyone tell me what this nod is universally taken as?

Sitting in the training session, I saw another classification in the nods apart from all the above nods. Nods that are completely meaningless. There are people whose minds wander off at far off places and their heads are engaged in a systematic, controlled & periodic nodding of any type of their choice. These are mere acts to imitate or, better, hide their meanderings. And to my surprise, I could see that people are becoming more & more matured in their techniques of nodding, to make it seem realistic.

You have noticed some more varieties or flavors of nods, do chip in! :-)

Happy nodding!!!

Knock! Knock!

Anybody still there?
I know it's been too long.
I have been too negligent.
But there is another truth as well.
I have been very guilty of this as well.
I have felt miserable and frustrated.
And have tried for long, to come back and do what I love a lot.
And finally the blogger within me has taken the front seat.
And I am sure, I am capable enough to keep this going now.
I hope to see you all regularly again! :-)

Odds at each other's side!

Last week, I was travelling to my hometown by train. It made a halt at a place, I don't which station it was as it was really dark and I was inside a new "postered" Rajdhani Express. But I still could see clearly the train standing right next to ours. As we slowly swayed past the train, one stark reality hit me. There was a sparsely filled AC coach with people sleeping with all the leisures in the world. And right next to it was a general compartment, overflowing with people, people who don't know what leisure is, people who have to even fight for the little place to sit clumsily. This is the harsh reality of India. The great divide, with which every passing second is getting wider. Though its has always been present, in and around me, but don't know why it moved me that moment so much as to make me feel like crying.

Where will this end? Would those hard working souls just persih without being rewarded? I don't know. All I can see is a bleak future. How much ever the better becomes best, the true victory of a nation is tp lift the worse to atleast good!

So Long....

So long....so long I had stayed away from my camera...I don't know why and how it happened. But a refreshing break came to me in form of a pleasant surprise. One night I got a call from my uncle, to join them on a trip to Shravanbelgola. Oh, I just can't describe how I felt at that moment. I was like..."Finally my hands and my eyes will be put to some worth" :D .

But I was worried too, as I had not taken photographs for months. I didn't know that I did remember photography, or would it have evaporated out of me. But once my hands were on the shutter button and my eyes looking through the viewfinder, nothing was stopping me. And I so very enjoyed doing what I used to love a few months back. Here are just a few shots from the trip. Do tell me how you found them. I would be uploading the entire set soon on my Flickr. So, watch out.

She Blogs...

Ouch...! That really hurt. I heard these words and started wondering: am I really blogging? I used to take such pride in that some time ago (rather some years ago...sigh). Whom am I lying to, by saying that i blog? How can I betray me, myself and my blog? I have been making unfulfilled promises from long that I will get back to it. But I haven't. I can no longer be called in the category of bloggers (...sobs...). I feel so ashamed, angered on myself. How did I let this happen?

Is it my laziness or my indifference or just a stagnation of events in my life? I will have to sit and think about the right blend of reasons for this misfortune of mine. And this time I wont make promises, instead let the time tell what I finally made out of this mess.

Why are they doing this to me???

It was a beautiful evening, with clouds on top and a chilly breeze. I took my kinetic and started from my home, though for some work, but that was an excuse, what I really wanted was a speed ride in this climate, but but but... Why the hell do they have to spoil my speed ride???

They recently laid new roads in my entire area, beautiful roads...attracting and enticing and goading me to accelerate. But you suddenly realize that its all to just lure you and out of no where comes the monstrous, grizzly, huge and highly irritating speed breakers, aaaggggghhhhhh!!!!!

The road builders in Bangalore are really sadist, they lay beautifully good roads, but they just dont know how to make speed breakers. The speed breakers are narrow horizontally and rising to such heights that it really bogs you out of your mind to take your vehicle through them. Specially my poor little kinetic :(

And there goes my romantic, thrilling little speed ride! :(

Jungle Mein Mangal...

Recently we had a trip to Bandhavgarh (a Tiger Reserve in M.P.). We had booked a tree-house for us to stay and were expecting an adventurous trip. With the adventure in our minds and moods we set off from Bhopal to Bandhavgarh, via Katni. The ride from Katni to Tala (District of Bandhavgarh) was all the more convincing for the adventure we thought of facing and specially the remoteness of the tree-house resort sent some warning signals to our minds.

Once reaching our destination, our adventure started to shatter bit by bit. We were greeted by the staff present there with utmost hospitality and yeah the regular etiquettes that you see in any of the 3-4-5 star hotels. We were taken down a trail to our room, which was hidden amidst trees and completely isolated. The moment we entered, we were taken by awe. The room was very well designed, all the luxuries that you could ask for, and yet conserving the basic essence of being in a jungle. The best part was, one of the walls of the room was totally glass and opened up into a deck with two lounge chairs. Oh man, it was such a romantic place. I couldn't have asked for a better place.

And there was one more blessing in disguise, only BSNL network. So we were completely off mobiles and isolated in that small place. No STD PCOs and neither did the resort have any phone, so totally off the hook. How much I loved that peace and being in the arms of the nature. In our rooms the only sounds that we could hear was wind, chirping of birds and some stray sounds of animals roaming around. It was a complete bliss. Specially the nights, the sky was like a heavily studded diamond plate. Have never seen so many stars in my life. It was just amazing to lie in the lounge chair and look at the sky and stars for hours together.

Nights were also beautiful coz the place was lit up using lanterns (the usual kerosene lanterns) and not bulbs. The trail to each room was decked up with lanterns at regular distances, which looked like a beaded strand of necklace from far away. And sometimes, if you are lucky enough, you can hear those jungle bands and songs from nearby local tribes.

The jeep safaris into the national park were too exciting too. It was fall time and the colors of the trees were awesome. The feel of being inside a jungle and be able to watch the activities happening there is just amazing. We took two jeep safaris into the national park, and finally in the second one we spotted a tigress (a pregnant one!!). Wow such a majestic animal it is.

To top it all, the service that you get is amazing, they literally treat you as kings and queens (of the jungle...hahaha). The food was amazing too, not the usual 3-4-5 star types, but a good deal home-like. In short, it was a perfect "hideaway" vacation which we enjoyed to the best. And I would recommend all of you to try out that place.

For more information visit http://www.treehousehideaway.com/

Oiling the Rust!

Hello after a long time!
Well, lot of my friends have been asking me about my new updates at my blog. And even I have been trying to write something, but alas , I am not able to churn out anything good enough. I am finding my writing skills to be rusted, down to the position of making so much of fuss and noise but yet nothing fruitful out of it.

So here comes my debut post, sort of like an oil drop in the long rusted machine. You can ignore this! :D

And will try to update my blog atleast once a week! So keep dropping by! :-)

Tip Tip Tip Baarish

Just came back from a refreshing bath in the nature's shower :D.

It started raining some time back and I was sitting all alone in the house and wondering, what the hell am I doing? And that's it...went up to the terrace to have a good feel of the rain.

Its so long that I intentionally got drenched...And it was truly worth going up there.

Woh thandi thandi baarish ki boondein...
woh sansanaate patton ki awaaz...
woh gili farsh pe panv rakhna...
woh paani mein uchalna...
woh baadlon ka garazna...
aur woh jhoom ke gaane gaana...


Ohhh...It was so romantic...so magical...
It made me so happy...that I came down and started writing a post...after a long long time...

I wish each one of you who is reading this to have an unrestrained joy like this. :-)

Happy Monsoon to everyone!

Moral Dilemmas

Have you ever faced a situation where in you don't know which way to choose? A duvidha or dharamsankat, as called in Hindi.

For example, You are supposed to be at a contest and are the judge to find the best talent. One of your close relative is one of the contestant. There are two situations in this case. First, there is a better contestant who actually deserves the prize. You can make your relative win over him/her. The second situation is, your relative is the best. Now you start thinking that if I make my relative win, what will people think of me, that I practice favoritism. And you may deprive him/her of what he/she was worthy of. What will you do in these situations?

The above example was actually a milder version. Milder in the sense, it doesn't involve life and death. But there can be situations where a person's life or death is on stake. And you have to choose between life of someone who is close to you and life of many others. What good or what bad will you choose?

I have always had this thought in my mind, that what if I am in such a situation. God forbid, but what will I do? I still don't have a complete answer. Will I be able to think rationally and keeping my emotions behind the practical thought? Its very easy to think, when you are not under pressure. But, when in pressure, it depends on a person's mental stability and ability to think rationally and more importantly, unselfishly.

Here are few dilemmas which I found while surfing.

Of Special regard is the first one. Let me know what you think of it. Was the captain correct or was he unethical?

Weekend Spent Shooting!

I am back with my tales out of my routine life. And this time its about a weekend photography shoot (so don't misinterpret the title ;-) ).

I joined this group called Bangalore Weekend Shoots very recently. Missed out on the first weekend shoot due to some unforeseen circumstances. But was determined to join the next one. After a lot of scheduling and rescheduling my weekend, I finally got myself free for the Saturday trip to Channapatna.

The trip started with meeting of all the fellow photographers from the group at Town Hall at 6:30 a.m. (believe me I woke up at 5:30 a.m...a record for me :D). I was picked up by Vinayak, Srividya and her cousin Anu from my place at 6:15 a.m. I was already pretty nervous for the shoot and once when we reached Town Hall, my nervousness had reached new heights. Looking at people with fundu gears and equipments, I felt like the odd-man-out. And knowing my inhibitions with new people, I thought of better standing quietly at one corner of the troupe. We waited for another fellow photographer, Shreelesh, while I just tried to calm myself down. Finally, with the arrival of Shreelesh, the caravan started.

The first stop was at Kamat Lokaruchi, for a nice breakfast, after all an empty stomach will drive you crazy. After filling the stomachs, cameras came out and a few shots were taken at Kamat's. We even met another flickr member with an ultimate photo gear. I had noticed him at Town Hall as well and thought he is a part of the group, but later came to know that he was not. Anyways, he took a nice wide-angle shot of the entire group and headed his way.

From there we started towards Channapatna and with a 10 min break in the way for shooting some photos, we reached the place to find it all deserted. Then Shridhar, another fellow photographer took the lead and went in search of toy industries. He finally found one, and with a bit of searching and U-turns we finally reached the small industry. It was far away from what I had expected from my a priori background study on Channapatna.

But still everyone else seemed to be busy. So even I took my camera and started taking random shots. I was completely blank in the start, what to shoot? But, as and when I took snaps, I started finding reasons and urge to take this and that. I took some snaps in that particular workshop and then headed for another one where women were the makers of those wonderful toys. Here, the colors were more, it was more lively. But something was lacking. I didn't spend much time there and started loitering around. Thats when I saw a small door at the backside of the school in the premises. There were many kids looking intently towards me and they called me inside. That was really the best part of that day.

Those kids were so enthusiastic and full of vigor and liveliness. They were all going gaga about getting themselves photographed. I liked that smile on their face when I click a photo. Wow! it was all worth those smiles and few minutes of happiness that I could give them. Looking at their ecstatic faces, even their teacher didn't mind my intrusion and was most welcoming. I took a series of shots and had a nice chat with the kids. With an intention of not disturbing them much I reluctantly left the place.

Next in line was Dilip Kumar, The Horse. He was getting too nervous modeling for two photographers shooting at him from two different sides..hehehe. Meanwhile, I had sort of made a friend their in little Irfan. He lead me to his house, though he was so shy that he hid himself. Had a small chat with her elder sister about the life and education in their place. I always feel I am over-blessed after talking to such people. I just can just hope for them!

Well, I know its getting too long...but believe me the day was too long. Anyways, from Channapatna we headed back to Kamat. Took some refuge, water, buttermilk and Sugarcane Juice to refill ourselves. And then headed for Big Banyan tree. Though mistakenly, we reached another spot, I think it was a meditation center by Swami Nityananda. We took a few snaps there and headed for the original Big Banyan Tree. Again it was a disappointment to me, from what I had imagined of the Big Banyan tree. But here again I found three kids, so eager to be photographed. They smiled and giggled and posed like whatever I asked them of. It was good. From there we parted our ways and left for our respective destinations.

All in all, the day was amazing, far from expected, but then always the uncertain is more interesting and turns out to be the best. I learnt a lot of things that day. Technically, spiritually, and philosophically. I really will be looking forward to more such trips and more learning.

Flights of Fantasy!

I got a call from my uncle about a music concert, and he asked whether we will join them. I was all agog about it but hesitated and said I will call back after asking my roomie. I was a bit wary while calling my roomie...she will be interested in classical music or not...but my excitement was not subdued...she said yes.

So we both set out for "Chowdaih Memorial Hall". On reaching there, the first surprise was the building itself. I had heard about the building, but to see it in front of my eyes was a different experience. It was in the shape of Veena. There was quiet a crowd so we got inside with some trouble and found seats after scanning carefully through the overflowing hall.

The first performance was by Ustaad Shahid Pervez. The melodies of his Sitar were spell bounding. Even the hum of the strings was so enchanting. Specially the last piece that he played was just amazing. I almost held my breath through it. The Tabla was also amazing. Next performance that day was by Begum Parween Sultana. I had heard her long back on one of the television talent hunt shows. But listening to her live was captivating. But due to time restraint we had to leave in the middle of her performance. But whatever I heard has got inscribed in my memory forever :).

The second day was all the more vivid. It started with a performance by Pandit Ullhas Kashalkar. Though I am not the right person to ask about it...as I am not much inclined towards Vocal...but I can definitely say that the people around me enjoyed it to the most. I sat through the performance just waiting for the one performance I had been waiting since my uncle told me about the show. And atlast he came.

As truly said by the hostess, we Indians have the privilege of having two such artists who are not known by their instruments but their instruments are know by them. I was dawned with the privilege of listening to Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma. Everyone just waited for him with an excitement. He took some time to adjust his instument Santoor. Such small instrument and yet so much of sweetness in the sound..its really amazing. Even while he was adjusting it, it was music to my ears. I was wondering if this is so melodious what it will be like when he actually plays it. And it was something out of the world. It seemed to me that the music played by the Harps of the Heaven can not be more melodious. I was taken into a different world. A trance followed it. Time just flew by and my ears were blessed and my senses treated well. Everyone in the hall was just mesmerized and awed by his magic. There was complete silence. All you can hear is the ethereal sound from the Santoor. His hands moved so dexterously over the instrument, it appeared as a sculpture is chiseling the marble. When he finished he got a standing ovation. But the junta got greedy, they wanted more. And so he played Raag Pahadi in the end. I wanted it to be everlasting. But alas, all good things come to an end :(.

Oh my, what a performance it was. I am smitten by his music. The sound of those strings are still echoing inside my mind. I would recommend all of you who love music and melody, to grab a CD of his and experience the best of the best concord. Truly the Indian Heritage and Culture is beyond distinction.

Encounters with Faces

Face, the most important element in a human's appearance. Its so intriguing, how a face plays with your mind and sets opnions. Your first impression of a person is strongly based on the face of the person. The face personifies the image of a person. Its so strange, that we can trust a person more if we have seen his/her face. Until we see someone, we always have a small doubt in the corner of our mind.

Doesnt matter that the face should only be beautiful. Faces can be not beautiful but still charming and luring. Some faces are more touching, some you can trust instantly. Some faces, you loathe at the first glance itself, and have a tough time dealing with that person. But one thing, again a strange fact, you tend to soften for a face, once you start seeing the face quiet often. You can actually start liking a face, even if you wanted to turn the other side on the first time.

Faces are mysterious. Some faces are expressive, telling you the unsaid too. Some faces are stoic, completely indifferent from what actually is. The worst is, some faces are deceitful; acting as a mask on the reality. I have become wary of faces, dont know they project the reality or are fraud. But still, faces play a very important role in my description of a human being (not just looks). I wonder, will I be able to get the niche of finding out whats behind a face. I think I almost have it. But somethings are so unpredictable that all your statistics go haywire; and faces fall into this category.

Faces will always perplex me, sometimes making me comfortable, sometimes making me despise, and sometimes leave me with lots of questions unanswered. But still it plays a major role in charaterization of people carrying these faces. So happy face reading everyone!

Here is an interesting article I found, once I started writing this.

Facial Prejudice: Face and Personality.

Clueless Scribble!

I have been trying to write something for a long time. Writing gives me a sense of satisfaction. So, I started to think...what should I write. Many things came to my mind, politics, corruption, media, communal riots, traffic blues, natural calamities, war and peace, etc. But, there is already lots written, read and ignored, stuff on these topics. Coz these are the usual masala that you can read tons of articles on. I had to think something different.

The other thing I could possible write was about my life. Now, there is another small problem to it. My life's story, if taken out my name, can be identified as story of so many people around me. That makes it non-unique. On that, a thought came to my mind. All of us are bound by so many things in life. We are bound by the society, by traditions, by the people we love, by our own narrow mindedness. Sometimes I feel, as if I am a captive in my own house. When I lie down on the bed, I feel that the ceiling binds me. It would have been so good, if I could ogle at the handsome Moon, and be envious of the beautiful stars. When I am on the roads, the traffic binds me. It would have been so good if it would be a muddy path that disappears into lush green woods with a magical mist around (almost a fairytale...right).

But I am bound, and I dont have the means to break this bound. I really adore those people who could divert themselves from the narrow line placed in front of them, and chase their dreams. I also dream, of freedom, of breaking free of traditions and follow my passions. I also want to hold the hands of life and walk towards the misty woods. I also want to whisper to the wind and fly with the clouds. But I am bound...but I am bound.

My New Mobile

I recently upgraded to a better handset than the basic model I was using. And its such a relief to switch to colored screen from the black and white screen :D. I suddenly have so many things to do with my phone :).

Have a look at the specs. And here are a few pictures of the phone:

Armaggedon

“Circa 2218 anno Domini…

The Armageddon has occurred… The Earth has been destroyed… Luckily, only a few years back, MARS had been discovered habitable for mankind… To ensure the survival of life, a few days before the Armageddon, a select few people from Earth were moved to MARS… This select few consist of an equal mix of males-females, literates-illiterates, young-old, Hesperian-Oriental etc… Along with them, go an equal mix of living / non-living things considered vital in human eco-system…

I am one of that select few!!”

Blue was looking awesome, as always, from the small window of the craft that was shuttling between Blue and Red. This was the last shuttle and then the chapter called earth will be shut forever. With a thousand questions running in my head and a lot of apprehension, I set foot on Red.

The life has changed, the meanings have changed; the world itself has changed for me. It was only two more days when the world I was used to, will be swiped out of existence. And all I could do is sit and watch the Blue’s destruction. But still I have thesoul left in my body; a sky, though of crimson color, is still above my head; I can still walk on firm grounds; and above all I have the spirit to explore a new world, spread out in front of me. With a heavy heart, I bid adieu to the world I had known, to reach out for the unknown and started the most gruesome journey I ever had.

The rucksack at my back, the sunglasses on my eyes, adjusted for a bigger sun in this world, and a mask for oxygen, I looked more like a Hitchhiker on a trail of the galaxy; remember “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. To my amazement there was a bus service taking the immigrants from Blue to the place considered home on this not so conducive planet. I took the bus and was in a flash of a second at the entrance of a huge building resembling the white house with a huge wooden door.

As the doors opened, I found the first trace of activity going on inside. It was much like a small township being developed indoors. I strolled towards the reception looking at the ceiling, which was quiet a simulation of the sky on Blue. The receptionist was a pretty lady with blonde hair. She asked me my passport to Red. After some clicks, she handed over an envelope and a key and directed me towards the escalators. Inside the envelope, I found currency notes of crimson color. I reached my room #1130 and with the key in, an automated voice asked me for my name. I pronounced my name loud enough for the entire floor to hear and the doors flanged open. Inside, the room was the size of a regular studio apartment in DC. It had all the means for a human to survive on Red.

With the money stuffed into my pockets, and all the necessary amenities into my rucksack; I locked the room and set out to look for a means to move around. I found a small car that uses the ever abundant solar energy with a good amount of oxygen, enough for a person to survive for 90 days and two for 45 days. I bought the car and was in a jiff to leave the place, but my eyes landed on a small shop selling pets. It was a good idea to have a pet and bought a cute little squirrel to jump inside the pocket of my jacket.

I took out the car on the barren roads of Red and stepped onto the accelerator. I thought it to be much similar to the drives I had through the deserts of Blue, but the sudden burst of gas just next to the path I took made me realize that this is not going to be a cakewalk for me. I stuck my eyes to the path ahead and drove on. There was a trail left by someone else, good to know that there was another crazy immigrated to Red. I diverted from my chosen path to follow the trail and concentrated on the path ahead, looking around for something that would attract my attention.

I finally found it. It was a garden inside a glass house. I parked the car near the door to the glass house and stepped inside. The place was amazingly kept. It was filled up with all the beautiful plants and shrubs and even trees from Blue. I heard someone call out, “Didn’t you read the board outside?” He was an old man; heavy glasses resting on his nose, wrinkles round his eyes and hair all gray. I said, “Sorry?” “It says trespassers not allowed. So just get out of this place.” I didn’t understand, after all it was only a garden. “You dumb struck or what? Now don’t wait till I call the security.” the old man furious. With a note of apology I came out but didn’t want to leave. Out of curiosity, I started walking along the periphery of the glass house. It was quiet big for a garden. I was appreciating the collection of the flora inside, which suddenly started turning weird. The plants I could see now were different. They were moving, sanguine in color and scary to look at, resembling predators of all those fictionla movies I had seen. Didn’t know, which category to put them under, flora or fauna?

Now, I was all the more interested in finding out what the hell was going on. I was so engrossed that I didn’t see the grotesque shadow like figure next to me. It was of a security guard of some sort. As I was about to say something, he punched an injection into my upper arm. Everything blacked out.

When I woke up, I saw myself in a small cell with nothing but a small peep hole. My belongings were taken away and so were my keys of the car. I was baffled. Trying to calm my heart rate down, I gave reasons to myself like, this, probably, is a nightmare. But it was not, it was worse than that. I was devoid of all the senses of time and direction, felt like a lost soul in the huge huge universe. I heard a squeak, and the squirrel jumped out of the pocket. I got an idea. It was my only chance. I sent out the squirrel through the peep hole hoping for it to return with something I could use for. There was a sound of some sort of babble outside and the door flanged open. The two security guards were fighting with each other. They shot each other. I ran out, picked up the squirrel and started carefully down the corridor. I was passing by a closed door, when I heard something about the Armageddon. It was a familiar voice. With a little pressure on my brains, I realized, it was the voice of the president of the “Project Red”.

The voice was remorseful; for they had caused the destruction of Blue. As the fact dawned to me that the Armageddon was human triggered, a conspiracy of the governments; a thunderous sound made me almost deaf. Everyone started pouring out of all the doors and kept running, ignoring the intruder inside. I too, followed the steps. Once outside, I could see the fireworks in the sky. Blue was in huge flames, Moon was cracking apart; the war of good and evil had begun. Another shrill, and to the horror of all supposedly safe humans on Red, a huge chunk of moon flying across the sky, was descending right on the spot. Panic struck, people were running from death, which was inevitable.

The war ended with the end of the creators of the war, humans. The galaxy rested in peace thereafter.

Hanging in the middle...

I had a funny incident today. In the afternoon, as me and my friends started for the lunch. We took the second elevator for going upstairs to the 7th Floor. There were quiet many people inside, say about 10. The elevator was going at a steady pace and by the time it was about to reach the 7th floor...Boom...there was a huge sound and the elevator stopped. But the doors didnt open. My friend was standing next to the user panel, so she pushed the Open-Door button quiet a number of time but to no avail. Somebody yelled push 6th Floor button, we can go down. It didnt work. Somebody suggested to press any damn button. Nothing worked. So we just kept pressing the alarm button. Please somebody come and take us out. Another voice came, call the reception. A person tried from his cell...but damn the airtel network...there was no signal. Thankfully, my cell had FULL B-) network. So I called up the reception and told the receptionist that we all are stuck in the lift, send someone to rescue us :D. She said people are on their way and we will be out soon. Till that time, people started talking...I heard someone asking to call parents, some were worried about their insurance :D. And after gruesome 10 mins, the lights in the lift went out and the door opened a bit. We could clearly see that we were somewhere in the middle of the 6th and the 7th floor. And suddenly, the lights came on and the doors got closed and the lift started moving downwards. It didnt stop anywhere but directly on the 3rd floor. Everybody rushed out. It was such a relief to finally be out of the lift :D.